Hotel Pennsylvania

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Coordinates: 40°44′59″N 73°59′26″W / 40.74972, -73.99056

The front entrance of the Hotel Pennsylvania
The front entrance of the Hotel Pennsylvania

The Hotel Pennsylvania is a hotel located at 401 7th Avenue in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Contents

[edit] History

The Hotel Pennsylvania was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1919 and was operated by Ellsworth Statler. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White, which also designed the original columned version of Penn Station located across the street. (The old Pennsylvania Station was razed in 1963 to make room for the Garden and the redeveloped below-ground station in use today.)

The hotel was acquired by the Hotels Statler Company in 1949 and renamed the New York Statler Hotel. Following the sale of all 17 Statler hotels to Conrad Hilton in 1954, the hotel became The Statler Hilton. It operated under this name until the early 1980s, when Hilton sold the hotel and it again became The New York Statler for a brief period, before joining the now-defunct Penta chain in 1984, becoming The New York Penta. In 1992, its name returned to the Hotel Pennsylvania.

The hotel has the distinction of having the New York phone number in longest continuous use. The number, PEnnsylvania 6-5000, is the inspiration for the Glenn Miller song of the same name. Many big band names played in the hotel's Cafe Rouge Ballroom, including the Dorsey Brothers, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Contrary to common practice, there is a 13th floor. Although the hotel states it is only 18 stories tall, some service elevators will reach the 21st floor.

[edit] Proposed demolition

In early January of 2007, plans were announced to demolish the hotel, and replace it with an office tower. Owner Vornado Realty Trust intends to build a 2.5-million-square-foot building by 2011.[1][2] Vornado's plans take advantage of the fact that the site is the only remaining area in Midtown Manhattan that would not require special permits for development of a new office project of that size.[3] The investment bank Lehman Brothers is in talks with owner Vornado Realty Trust to lease the new office building and move its headquarters from its current location on 7th Avenue near Times Square.[4]

Shortly after the announcement of Vornado's plans, the staff of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, a magazine which sponsors biennial H.O.P.E. hacker conventions at the hotel, began investigating possible ways to save the hotel from demolition.[5]

Preservation efforts have proven difficult thus far. Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 noted that while people overseas expressed concern over the fate of the hotel, "New Yorkers might not care enough to get involved. The hotel was old; the rooms weren’t as big and luxurious as other more modern facilities; and New Yorkers simply weren’t in a position to grasp the importance of such a place since they normally don’t need cheap and easily accessible hotels if they already live here."[6]

[edit] In popular culture

  • The American talk-show Maury tapes in the grand ballroom, along with The People's Court.
  • In 1940, Glenn Miller and the Glenn Miller Orchestra began the first of several extended engagements at the Hotel Pennsylvania's Cafe Rouge, often broadcast live on NBC Radio. Recordings of several of these engagements were released by RCA Victor.[7] [8]
  • The Hotel Pennsylvania appeared in the 1986 film The Manhattan Project, as the setting of a science fair. Rather than construct a set and populate it with actors, the filmmakers hosted an actual science fair in the hotel, and simply filmed during it.
  • In June 2002, Dave Barry wrote a column about his experience at the thinly-disguised "Hotel Shpennsylvania".
  • In December 1942 Charlie Chaplin attended a dinner at The Hotel Pennsylvania in New York sponsored by Russian War Relief[9]
  • December 1925 William Faulkner stayed at The Hotel Pennsylvania while writing one of his many novels. Later he would go on to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.[10]
  • November 17, 1935 Herbert Hoover speaks before the Ohio Society of New York at the Hotel Pennsylvania[11]
  • December 1, 2005 Two Swiss women sue the Hotel Pennsylvania after claiming they were "eaten alive" by bedbugs.[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Paul D. Colford. "Office tower dooms Hotel Pennsylvania", New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2007-01-08. 
  2. ^ Margaret Foster. "Manhattan Hotel To Fall", Preservation Online. Archived from the original on 2007-01-20. 
  3. ^ FORWARD-LOOKING ROTH CAN'T BE COUNTED OUT. New York Post
  4. ^ Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
  5. ^ 2600 NEWS: HOTEL PENN THREATENED WITH DEMOLITION - HOPE CONFERENCES IN JEOPARDY
  6. ^ The Lonely Fight For The Hotel Pennsylvania | The New York Observer
  7. ^ allmusic ((( Glenn Miller > Biography )))
  8. ^ Famous Weekly Old-Time Radio Shows
  9. ^ AmericanHeritage.com / Charlie Chaplin: Banned from America
  10. ^ Thinking of Home: William Faulkner's Letters to His Mother and Father, 1918-1925
  11. ^ Hoover Presents A Plan To Replace The New Deal; Scores Fiscal 'Grab Ba... - Free Preview - The New York Times
  12. ^ Tourists Sue NY Hotel Over Bedbugs, Lawyer For 2 Swiss Women Claims They Were 'Eaten Alive' - CBS News

[edit] External links